Integrated Resource Management: Moving from Rhetoric to Practice in Australian Agriculture

/ Implementing the concept of sustainability through integrated approaches to natural resource management poses enormous challenges for both the rural communities and government agencies concerned. This paper reviews the underlying rhetoric of sustainable agricultural systems and the integrated resource management paradigm and identifies some of the challenges being experienced in translating this rhetoric into practice. A relatively recently implemented community-based integrated catchment management (ICM) process in a rural community in northeast Australia is examined in terms of some of the lessons learned that may be relevant to other similar integrated resource management (IRM) processes. It reveals a pragmatic, opportunistic, and evolving implementation process based on adaptive learning rather than a more traditional "rational" planning approach. Some essential characteristics of a community-based IRM process are identified, including fostering communication; providing a structure that fosters cooperation and facilities coordination among community, industry, and government agencies; the integration of IRM principles into local government planning schemes; and an emergent strategic approach to IRM program implementation. We conclude by identifying some essential characteristics of an IRM process that can assist a community to adapt to, and manage change for, sustainable resource use.     

ACCOUNTING AND REPAYMENT PROVISIONS OF THE PICK-SLOAN MISSOURI BASIN PROGRAM1

ABSTRACT: The accounting and repayment practices employed by the Water and Power Resources Service (WPRS) greatly distort the actual resource allocation process and the ultimate repayment to the Federal Treasury. Through a series of transfers of capital repayment obligations to future development with modest or no interest charges, the repayment is reduced to only a fraction of the amount implied. In the case of the Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin Program, the public subsidy of hydroelectric power is estimated to be $2 for every $1 of repayment. For irrigation investment, the direct repayment to the Federal Treasury is less than 10 percent of the annualized cost of the public investment, with irrigators repaying at a rate of less than $0.03 for every dollar of public expenditure.     

Environmental management of the Colorado River within the Grand Canyon

Irreversible environmental changes are occurring along the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon as a result of regulation of the river flow by the Glen Canyon Dam. The questions of primary importance in managing this great natural resource are 1) in what manner and how rapidly are the physical and ecological adjustments taking place, and 2) is the increased use of the river for recreational boating contributing to the degradation? Human use along the Colorado River is limited, for the most part, to the relic, pre-dam fluvial deposits colloquially called “beaches.” With the new river regime these deposits are positioned well above the present high-water stage, 27,000 cubic feet/second (cfs), or 765 cubic meters/second (cms), so they are not replenished periodically as they were prior to construction of the dam in 1963. The dominant natural processes now are aeolian sand transport and mass wasting. The float-trip passengers use the river beaches for hiking, camping, and. lunch stops. At the most desirable sites thirty to forty people camp on the beaches each night over a four to five month season. Human impact includes incorporation of campsite litter, burial of chemically treated waste, and the direct stress associated with people walking on the vegetation and unstable sedimentary deposits. Results of our investigations indicate that the rate of degradation at the most heavily used sites exceeds the capacity of aeolian processes to reestablish natural landscapes. Therefore, careful management of float trjps is needed if these environments are to be maintained in a natural state rather than a “sand-box” state.     

Penetration of herbicides to groundwater in an unconfined chalk aquifer following normal soil applications

The persistence and penetration of the herbicides isoproturon and chlorotoluron in an unconfined chalk aquifer has been monitored over a 4-year period through soil sampling, shallow coring and groundwater monitoring. Chlorotoluron was applied on plots as a marker compound, having never been used previously on that, or surrounding fields. The fieldsite had a 5 degree slope with soil depths of 0.5 to 1.5 m and a water table between 20 and 5 m from the soil surface. Where the water table was deepest (9-20 m below surface (mbs)) little or no positive herbicide detections were made. However, where the water table was at only 4-5 mbs, a regular pesticide signal of around 0.1 microg/l for isoproturon and chlorotoluron could be distinguished. Over the winter recharge period automatic borehole samplers revealed a series of short-lived peaks of isoproturon and chlorotoluron reaching up to 0.8 microg/l. This is consistent with a preferential flow mechanism operating at this particular part of the field. Such peaks were occurring over 2 years after the last application of these compounds. Shallow coring failed to uncover any significant pesticide pulse moving through the deep unsaturated zone matrix at the fieldsite.     

Recreational impacts on Colorado River beaches in Glen Canyon,Arizona

Recreational impact was measured on eight beaches in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area and 15 beaches in Grand Canyon National Park using permanently located transects and plots. Recreational impact indices included densities of human trash and charcoal and a measure of sand discoloration due to charcoal. Significant increases in the indices occurred on several Glen Canyon beaches over a seven-month period. Sand discoloration became significantly higher over all Glen Canyon beaches during the same time period. All indices were significantly higher in Glen Canyon than on similar Grand Canyon beaches. These differences are probably due to differences in: (a) level of impacts tolerated by the respective management regimes and, (b) in the number of user days among the two National Park Service administrative units. Management alternatives are presented for reversing the present trends of recreational impact on Glen Canyon beaches.     

Photostabilizers for azadirachtin-A (a neem-based pesticide)

Photostability of azadirachtin-A (a neem based pesticide) has been studied without and with adding stabilizers such as ter. butyl-p-cresol, 8-hydroxy quinoline and ter. butyl hydroquinone as thin film on glass surface and on leaf surface under sunlight and UV light. Half-life of azadirachtin has been found to be 48 min and 3.98 days as thin film under UV light and sunlight and 2.47 days on leaf surface, respectively. 8-Hydroxy quinoline and ter. butyl hydroquinone have been found effective in controlling degradation of azadirachtin under both sunlight and UV light with half-life of 44.42 and 35.90 days under sunlight, and 55.80 and 48.50 h under UV light, respectively. Whereas ter. butyl-p-cresol has been found effective A only under sunlight. Significant decreases in antifeedant and insect growth regulatory activity against third instar larvae of Spodopterra litura has been observed with azadirachtin when exposed to sunlight and UV light. However, by the addition of above stabilizers, the biological activity of azadirachtin-A has been retained even after 24 h of irradiation under UV light and up to 30 days of exposure to sunlight.     

Relative size of Aristotle's lantern in Echinometra mathaei occuring at different densities

Like species of sea urchins in Zanzibar and Oregon (USA), Echinometra mathaei (de Blainville) at Rottnest Island, Western Australia, displays variation in the size of Aristotle's lantern relative to the maximum diameter of the test. This variation was associated with local variations in density of urchins at each of two sites in each of two years (1980 and 1981); this association with density was consistent with the proposal that relatively larger lanterns are a response to decreased food availability. Furthermore, variation of relative lantern size associated with local density was similar in magnitude to the variation displayed between sites and between years. This temporal variation demonstrated the plasticity of the relative lantern size over periods as short as 12 mo. Further experimental studies are required before relative length of lanterns can be used as estimates of food availability.     

Soil Lead and Children’s Blood Lead Levels in Syracuse, NY, USA

A geo-referenced data set of 12 228 first-time blood lead screening values for Syracuse, NY, children was established for the 4-year period 1992–1996. Soil lead values were measured in a 600 m by 600 m tessellation grid covering the city. The two data sets were merged for evaluation of relationships between them. Strong seasonal variation in blood lead levels suggests the importance of contaminated soils as an exposure source. When the data were aggregated at a large geographic scale (3 km²), a logarithmic model showed an R² of > 0.65 for the regression of geometric mean blood lead on median soil lead values. Results showed a striking similarity to those obtained by Mielke et al. (1999) for a study in New Orleans, LA, USA.